Did You Know...
...that in the early 1940s GE engineer James Wright was charged with a task of utmost importance to the war effort: develop a cheap substitute for rubber that could be used to produce tires, gas masks and a whole host of military gear. Wright tackled the task diligently -- and wound up inventing Silly Putty.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7845739 | Brake regulation system for motor vehicles A brake regulation system for motor vehicles is provided with an electronic control unit, by which an automatic parking brake function can be activated in the stationary phase of the motor vehicle and can be deactivated upon reaching a predetermined triggering condi... | 12/07/2010 |
| 7434896 | Method and device for brake control in a vehicle during the starting process A method for brake regulation in a vehicle when driving off on a split-μ roadway is provided, in which method the presence of a drive-off procedure on a split-μ roadway having a high coefficient of friction side and a low coefficient of friction side is recognized... | 10/14/2008 |
| 7401870 | Method and apparatus to enhance brake-steer of a vehicle using a controllable suspension component A system and method of controlling an automotive vehicle having a controllable suspension component includes applying brake-steer to at least one wheel, generating a suspension control signal in response to the brake-steer signal, and allowing at least one wheel cou... | 07/22/2008 |
| 7331642 | Method for applying torque overlay during split-mu braking conditions A method is provided for vehicle stability control of a vehicle where the vehicle includes a slip control braking system that applies independent braking pressure to respective vehicle brakes of the vehicle. The vehicle further includes a steering system for applyin... | 02/19/2008 |
| 7258404 | Antiskid control-combined paired/individual wheel control logic An anti-skid brake control system for a multi-wheeled vehicle includes both a paired function and an individual function. The paired function controls the wheels of the vehicle in unison. The individual function controls the wheels of the vehicle individually. A pai... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7178881 | Rear pressure control and rear dynamic proportioning in a vehicle brake system An apparatus and method are provided for controlling a rear brake hydraulic circuit having a fluid storage element and a master cylinder supplying a volume of pressurized brake fluid to the rear brakes during the braking cycle in a pump-less anti-lock brake apparatu... | 02/20/2007 |
| 7171296 | Integrated control apparatus for vehicle An electronic control unit calculates a target yaw rate in accordance with a vehicle speed and a steering angle and calculates the yaw rate difference on the basis of the target yaw rate and an actual yaw rate. The electronic control unit estimates the grip factor o... | 01/30/2007 |
| 7146261 | Vehicle control system for exiting ruts A vehicle control system adapted to facilitate exiting of ruts includes an active steering system having a steerable wheel defining a steering angle. The active steering system also includes a steering wheel providing a driver input control angle, the active steerin... | 12/05/2006 |
| 7099765 | Direct determination of the maximum grip coefficient on the basis of measurement of the circumferential extension in a sidewall of a tire A method of determining the grip coefficient μ in the contact area of a tire on a road includes the steps of selecting a plurality of fixed points in space (that is to say ones that are fixed in the reference frame associated with the vehicle) which points lie at d... | 08/29/2006 |
| 7069135 | Estimating maximum friction coefficient based on knowledge of the loads and self-alignment torque generated in a tire contact zone A method for estimation of the maximum grip coefficient on the basis of knowledge of the forces and the self-alignment torque which are generated in the contact area of a tire, includes the steps of: selecting a plurality of fixed ... | 06/27/2006 |
| 7059687 | Braking force distribution control device A braking force distribution control device is provided in which wheel speeds of respective wheels of a vehicle are detected. On the basis of the detected wheel speeds, slopes of coefficients of friction μ between the wheels and a road surface are estimated as road... | 06/13/2006 |
| 7035725 | Sliding integral proportional (SIP) controller for aircraft skid control The sliding, integral, and proportional controller for providing aircraft antiskid braking control includes a reference velocity subsystem, a velocity error ratio subsystem, and a main controller subsystem generating a control command output signal indicative of a c... | 04/25/2006 |
| 7013208 | Sliding integral proportional (SIP) controller for aircraft skid control The sliding, integral, and proportional controller for providing aircraft antiskid braking control includes a reference velocity subsystem, a velocity error ratio subsystem, and a main controller subsystem generating a control command output signal indicative of a c... | 03/14/2006 |
| 7010411 | Rear pressure control and dynamic rear proportioning in a vehicle brake system An apparatus and method are provided for operating a pump-less rear wheel anti-lock brake system of a vehicle using speed sensors on at least one front and one rear wheel, to provide a true dynamic rear proportioning (DRP) function, and to significantly enhance brak... | 03/07/2006 |
| 6974195 | Method for increasing the maneuverability or driving stability of a vehicle during cornering A method for increasing the maneuverability and driving stability of an automotive vehicle during cornering, the rotational behavior or the wheel slip of the individual vehicle wheels is monitored, and the distribution of the brake force to the curve-outward wheels ... | 12/13/2005 |
| 6890041 | Antilock brake systems employing a sliding mode observer based estimation of differential wheel torque Improved methods and systems for controlling hydraulically or electrically actuated anti-lock brake systems (ABS) on air and land vehicles requiring only measurement of wheel angular speed although brake torque measurements can also be employed if available. A slidi... | 05/10/2005 |
| 6880900 | Brake control system and method for vehicle A target wheel cylinder pressure for each wheel is calculated according to an amount of braking operation performed by a vehicle operator. When anti-skid control is required, the wheel cylinder pressure is controlled to be equal to the target wheel cylinder pressure... | 04/19/2005 |
| 6866349 | Traction control system including individual slip threshold reduction of the drive wheel on the outside of the curve A vehicle traction control system having capabilities for braking intervention and coefficient of friction detection is provided, a slipping wheel being braked by braking intervention if a slip threshold is exceeded. In order to improve the lateral stability of the ... | 03/15/2005 |
| 6863356 | Device and method for operating a motor vehicle Device and method are described for operating a vehicle using a vehicle controller to individually adjust braking forces of the wheels of at least one axle of the vehicle and using a yawing moment compensator to at least partially compensate for a yawing moment of t... | 03/08/2005 |
| 6742851 | Method and device for detecting a braking situation A detection device for detecting braking of a vehicle during cornering on a road surface where the coefficient of friction of the road surface on a wheel on the outside of a curve is lower than on a wheel on the inside of the curve includes a comparison device for c... | 06/01/2004 |
| 6684147 | Sliding integral proportional (SIP) controller for aircraft skid control The sliding, integral, and proportional controller for providing aircraft antiskid braking control includes a reference velocity subsystem, a velocity error ratio subsystem, and a main controller subsystem generating a control command output signal indica... | 01/27/2004 |
| 6681168 | Traction control device and a method for controlling the slip of a wheel A traction control device for a vehicle that has at least one axle, to which two driven wheels are assigned, the traction control device, when one of the driven wheels of the axle shows a tendency to spin, regulating the kinematic behavior of the wheel te... | 01/20/2004 |
| 6663113 | System and method for reducing stopping distance and improving traction in motor vehicles A method for improving the traction between a road surface and a motor vehicle having a pair of front wheels and a pair of rear wheels which engage the road, each front wheel mounted on a front axle, each rear wheel mounted on a rear axle, one of the axle... | 12/16/2003 |
| 6549842 | Method and apparatus for determining an individual wheel surface coefficient of adhesion The present invention provides a method of estimating a coefficient of adhesion between a road surface and a plurality of tires disposed on a vehicle. An estimated coefficient of adhesion for each of the plurality of tires is provided. First values of lon... | 04/15/2003 |
| 6445153 | Method and system for adjusting headway in an adaptive speed control system based on road surface coefficient of friction In an adaptive speed control system for a vehicle, a method and system for automatically adjusting a selected following interval for the vehicle based on driving conditions is provided. The method includes determining a driving surface coefficient of fric... | 09/03/2002 |
| 6412886 | Driving force control apparatus and method for a vehicle In a driving force control apparatus, a target driving torque TO is obtained based on a value determined by subtracting a feedback correction torque TF corresponding to a slip amount DVS from a correction reference torque TBC | 07/02/2002 |
| 6357840 | Algorithm for testing road surface with a small pressure release in an anti-lock brake system Upon detection of a potential transition from a low mu road surface to a high mu road surface, a rear wheel anti-lock brake system generates one dump pulse to increase the braking effort of the controller rear wheel as a test of the road surface. If the w... | 03/19/2002 |
| 6318820 | Antilock control method An antilock control method wherein during the running of an automotive vehicle on a road surface (μ-split surface) having a different coefficient of friction where one of the right and left wheels of the same axle is on a road surface of the higher coeff... | 11/20/2001 |
| 6301541 | Braking force control apparatus for vehicle Provided is a braking force control apparatus for vehicles capable of performing appropriate vehicle braking even in a road-contactless state of a wheel. The braking force control apparatus is adapted to a four-wheel drive vehicle having a center differen... | 10/09/2001 |
| 6285153 | Method and system for adjusting headway in an adaptive speed control system based on road surface coefficient of friction In an adaptive speed control system for a vehicle, a method and system for automatically adjusting a selected following interval for the vehicle based on driving conditions is provided. The method includes determining a driving surface coefficient of fric... | 09/04/2001 |
| 6238021 | Brake control system for vehicle When carrying out automatic braking in order to avoid contact of a vehicle with an object, the behavior of the vehicle is prevented from becoming unstable due to abnormal road surface conditions in which the coefficients of friction of the road surface ar... | 05/29/2001 |
| 6233505 | Process for determining ideal vehicular performance In order to adapt a simplified vehicle model to the driving behavior of a real automotive vehicle, it is possible to modify the slip rigidity values assumed to be constant in a linear model. After departure from the linear range of the lateral-force/slip-... | 05/15/2001 |
| 6226587 | Stability control system for automotive vehicle An automotive vehicle stability control system determined which is a main cause of a change in a change rate of a yaw rate difference of an actual yaw rate from a target yaw rate between a change in the actual yaw rate and a change in the target yaw rate ... | 05/01/2001 |
| 6208106 | Method and system for adjusting headway in an adaptive speed control system based on road surface coefficient of friction In an adaptive speed control system for a vehicle, a method and system for automatically adjusting a selected following interval for the vehicle based on driving conditions is provided. The method includes determining a driving surface coefficient of fric... | 03/27/2001 |
| 6122585 | Anti-lock braking system based on an estimated gradient of friction torque, method of determining a starting point for anti-lock brake control, and wheel-behavior-quantity servo control means equipped with limit determination means An anti-lock braking system includes a friction torque gradient estimating unit for estimating, from a small number of parameters, the gradient of friction torque with respect to a slip speed, and controls a braking force acting on wheels on the basis of ... | 09/19/2000 |
| 6116703 | Process for the braking of a vehicle A process for the braking of a vehicle on road surfaces with varying frictional values influences the respective braking forces on the wheels of at least one axle via a common braking value. The inventive process recognizes differences between these frict... | 09/12/2000 |
| 6044319 | Process for attenuating the yawing moment in a vehicle with an anti-lock brake system (ABS) A process for reducing yaw during braking in a vehicle having an anti-lock braking system (ABS) and traveling on a roadway having different coefficients of friction on opposite sides of the vehicle comprises regulating the braking pressures in the wheels ... | 03/28/2000 |
| 5944394 | Process for attenuating the yawing moment in a vehicle with an anti-lock brake system (ABS) A process for reducing yaw during braking in a vehicle having an anti-lock braking system (ABS) and traveling on a roadway having different coefficients of friction on opposite sides of the vehicle, is disclosed. The process comprises detecting the brakin... | 08/31/1999 |
| 5934770 | Brake control system for automotive vehicle An automobile brake control system, which applies braking force commonly to both driving wheels and restrictively controls the braking force when a specified difference occurs between a wheel speed of the driving wheel and a vehicle speed estimated based ... | 08/10/1999 |
| 5865514 | Circuit arrangement for a braking system with anti-lock control system A circuit arrangement which is provided for a vehicle with an electronic anti-lock control system and is used to enhance the driving stability in critical driving situations includes circuits for the individual control of the braking pressure on the front... | 02/02/1999 |
